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Erosia

Aug072007

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LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to leo@leoweekly.com. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.

Louisville is CheapCary Stemle said Forecastle was “not bad, not bad at all” (LEO, Aug. 1). Also, he said “tickets were CHEAP.” Either someone told him to say these things (LEO sponsored the event) or he is a totally uninformed LEO editor not living in reality. Ask anyone who went to the overpriced flop — Forecastle was essentially a total bust. Nobody went! Most of the people there worked there in some way or another. And the reason? No, not the clouds, or even the rain Friday. It was too dang expensive! I feel terrible for him, but J.K. should have had better “foresight.” Everyone is poor these days, especially young people, the targeted attendees. Even the people with money were complaining of the price. Every single person I spoke to who went and paid to get in said, “This price is like wtf!” As I recall, the over-inflated price was the main topic of conversation there. Some of my friends who went and paid the blasphemous $15 to get in said that while they were at the entrance emptying their pockets, many people walked up planning to go in, but on seeing the price, walked away — scores of them. If the event was to be successful, it should have been free or maybe $5. This is really how the public felt about it.Dave Mancini, Louisville, bass player for The Glasspack

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Engaging ErosiaWhile I was equally troubled as Kent Sublett regarding the letters about the Dumstorf shootings, I must completely disagree with him regarding his tirade against LEO. I have had a number of letters published in this newspaper, and I am quite sure that my viewpoints are far different from those of the vast majority of LEO readers (I certainly hope so anyway!). And I know firsthand that LEO publishes letters that do not adhere to the editor’s point of view given that they published mine last year in which I pointed out the multiple hypocrisies of LEO’s founder, John Yarmuth (a man that Sublett apparently respects?), that he made in an interview with a LEO staff member. The only letter from me that LEO has ever failed to publish was one in which I was going to point out that while a number of people attacked me and others in response to my letter about Yarmuth, no other writer refuted my claims about him or leapt to his defense. The stated reason for not publishing that letter was to allow space for new topics because that one had continued for four editions of LEO. I’m inclined to accept that answer as the truth, and I am equally inclined to believe that no other letters about the Dumstorf article were submitted.I might also add that I read LEO for a number of reasons, one of which is to find out what is happening in Louisville. One way that I’ve found various businesses provide that information is through the use of ads. Ads tell me which comedians may be appearing in town, who is playing at the local clubs and what kind of food and specials are being offered at various restaurants. Whenever I hear someone complain about the number of ads in papers like LEO, I always tell them that they should simply ask for a refund of their subscription costs. That usually shuts them up pretty quickly.Rick Robbins, Sellersburg, Ind.Righting Your WrongsIn last week’s Erosia, Jon Brooks asked: “How are any of these things different than the smoking issue?” Allow me to answer. First of all, the Metro Council did not ban smoking, they regulated its use by banning smoking inside public buildings. Driving is also regulated. In fact, you have to have a state-issued license, and you are banned from using your vehicle to harm or injure other people. Cooking is regulated in restaurants. The city has health inspections, and serving food that can make the public sick is banned. Alcohol is regulated. Bars must have a liquor license, and public drunkenness is banned. Sex in public is banned as well. Secondly, the smoking ban is actually not about your safety as a smoker, it is about my safety as a non-smoker. You are free to smoke in your home, car and outside, but you are no longer allowed to pollute the air that everyone else breathes inside public buildings. When you consume a lot of alcohol, you are not forcing all the other people in the room to get drunk, and there is no such thing as secondhand sex. Here are some other examples: You have the right to get a tattoo, but you do not have the right to stick needles in other people. You have the right to drive a dirt bike dangerously on your property, but you do not have the right to drive it into a crowd. You have the right to be a boxer, but you do not have the right to punch another person outside the ring. You have the right to go skydiving, but you do not have the right to push someone else out of a plane. You have the right to have sex with a consenting adult, but you do not have the right to rape. Jacob Zimmer, Louisville

Fired UpSeedy K’s comments are always entertaining. Unfortunately, he was flat wrong about the Louisville Fire in the July 25 LEO. The Fire presents a fun and entertaining athletic contest. Far from being “fake” football, Arena Football constitutes a different brand of football that is played out on a national stage every week during the season. With ESPN owning 10 percent of AFL1, this exposure is not likely to be lessened in the coming years.The Fire management has consistently said that the goal is to obtain an AFL1 team here in Louisville. In order to reach that goal, we must have strong enough season ticket sales to justify a franchise. An AFL1 team will mean increased national exposure for Metro Louisville as well as the eventual new arena. We all have seen how well Louisville is presented during the coverage of the U of L teams as well as other events. Hopefully, with the help of the community, the Fire can reach its goal, and Louisville will have an even better attraction than the current Fire.Dan Cherry, Louisville

I'm a Jew who practices Zen Buddhist meditation. In my younger days I attended talks and zhikrs with Sufi teachers like Pir Vilayat Khan and Reshad Field. Rumi, Kabir and Hafiz are among the greatest religious poets I know. Deep gratitude to this publication for reporting on one of the most beautiful, peaceful, passionate and unifying religious visions ever given to us!

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